Poland: Russian drone found off Baltic coast had fragmentation warhead

A Russian drone recovered off Poland's Baltic coast was found to be fitted with a fragmentation warhead and detonator, prompting concerns about potential security threats in the region.

The drone, identified as a Russian-made Gerbera-2, was separated from its warhead by Polish army special forces and defused on the beach before undergoing further examination at a military facility.

Poland is investigating a possible connection between this incident and a separate one in Lithuania, where a Russian combat drone entered Lithuanian airspace and was shot down after being found to also be equipped with explosives.

A Russian drone recovered off Poland's Baltic coast earlier this week was fitted with an explosive device, a spokesman for the investigating prosecutor's office told the PAP news agency on Wednesday.

The uncrewed aerial vehicle "contained a fragmentation warhead fitted with a detonator," the spokesman said in Poznań, Poland.

The drone was found on Monday near the seaside resort of Rusinowo in north-west Poland.

Army special forces separated the warhead from the drone and defused it on the beach, the spokesman said. It will now undergo further examination at a military facility.

According to prosecutors, the drone was a Russian-made Gerbera-2. Poland is also investigating whether there is a connection to a separate incident in neighbouring Lithuania.

On Tuesday night, a Russian combat drone entered Lithuanian airspace and was shot down. According to Lithuania's Defence Ministry, that drone was also fitted with explosives.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the drone found off Poland's Baltic coast may also have flown over Lithuania.

After attempts were made to neutralize it, the drone crossed the Lithuanian border into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and then most likely flew over the Baltic Sea.

Both countries were jointly investigating the incidents, he said.

Poland, an EU and NATO member, is a key political and military ally of Ukraine, which has been defending itself from Russia's full-scale invasion.

At the same time, Warsaw considers Moscow a security threat. A Russian drone strike on a train travelling from Kiev to Warsaw just before the Polish border alarmed the Polish government as recently as Sunday.